Patrick: 26" wheels are a hard sell, probably because road-bike-oriented people associate them with "slow" MTBs and cheapo X-Mart bikes. Back when we sold Atlantises, it seemed like 58cm frames sold better than 56cm by about 10:1 (a guess). Perhaps RBW has a more accurate ratio. In any case, many people saw the 559 wheel as a drawback. This observation also extends to a previous bike shop gig, where one brand of road-racing bicycle used 26" wheels on its smallest bikes. They were impossible to sell because of the perception of slowness.
With the Surly LHT, which has many similarities to the Atlantis, including 559 wheels on smaller frames, there is now an option to get the small wheels even on larger frames. Since this option has been available, we've only stocked the 559 LHTs. The smaller wheels allow bigger tires and fenders, and toe-overlap has been more or less eliminated. Also, the smaller wheels are lighter AND stronger, all else being equal. IMO, the 26" wheels should be regarded as a positive, not a negative. (although a nice bike with 700c or 650b wheels is good, too) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/5oFPjaQngg4J. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
